♪ the texas-sized talent with charm to burn. >> loves life, loves women, good man, good family. >> matthew mcconaughey. his journey from promising newcomer -- >> all right, all right, all right. >> i'm young and i'm inexperienced. >> a career that veered off track. he took himself out of the game. >> i needed to pull back on what i had been doing. i didn't work for two years. >> to plot a comeback nobody saw coming.

>> welcome to the dallas buyer's club. >> best performance by an actor. >> i'm having a great time. >> tonight, cnn "spotlight" matthew mcconaughey. hello, everybody, welcome to the texas hill country. the place where matthew mcconaughey was born and raised and still calls home. this part of the country has produced some colorful characters, as well as one of hollywood's most intriguing leading men. after a career spanning two decades, matthew is getting his due for paying another remarkable texan in one of the year's most celebrated movies. one story rooted in texas, now oscar nominated. ♪ it's texas grown lead actor

oscar nominated, too. >> welcome to the dallas buyers club. >> i'm very fortunate i got to be in what i think is a damn good movie. >> matthew mcconaughey, in his moment. >> it's a celebration time. >> the actor with the major award season mojo. >> feels good. >> a golden globe, a screen actor's guild award. unending praise for his portrayal of the real life character in "dallas buyers club." >> you look great. >> "dallas buyers club" and its star, both quintessentially texas. both basking in award season glow. you've got to be having the time of your life.

>> i am. i've been doing this for 22 years. first time nominated. first time really going around an award season with a film and a performance that's had some light shown on it. the film and the work is preceding me everywhere i go. i'll talk about "dallas buyers club" and my experience till the cows come home. >> explain what the buyers club is. >> dallas buyers club is about a guy, true life story. >> you grew up in texas. >> it's just a wild movie and you lost so much weight for this role and character. >> we have to congratulate you, because this truly has been a great year for you. >> you were so brilliant. the film is so good. >> thank you. >> we'll begin where we always begin. where were you born? >> in uvalde, texas. >> 7.6 square miles in southwest texas. >> he's an authentic texas character. >> fellow texan matt profiled him early in his career. >> that part of texas is flat and dusty, and in some ways,

freaky. if you grew up there, it feels normal. >> matthew is born the youngest son to kay and jim mcconaughey. matthew plays on the golf team and wins an award for best looks at long view high. after graduation, he enrolls in the university of texas at austin. always a good student, he reveals on inside the actor studio that acting wasn't in his original plan. >> i was headed towards law school. so i started off with liberal arts philosophy, then i was going to go to law school. then i switched to go to film school after my sophomore year.

>> it's here at this austin hotel where a chance meeting becomes matthew's life changing moment. film students drinking at the bar when he learns a casting director working with independent filmmaker is sitting nearby. matthew introduces himself and somehow gets an audition for linklater's next movie, "dazed and confused." >> i'm thinking about getting back in school, man. >> "dazed and confused" releases in 1993. >> how's it going, man? >> the character, wooderson, in only a handful of scenes, steals them. >> all right, all right, all right. >> and all right, all right, all right becomes mcconaughey's life long catch phrase. >> first scene i was in, those were the first two words out of my mouth. so it's a little fallback for me to remember where i started. >> but it's soothing, because it gets everybody in the mood, like all right, all right, all right. >> most people know where it

came from. >> all right, all right, all right. >> a sequel to "texas chain saw massacre" follows and a full-fledge acting career begins to flourish, as he goes through movies. by the time "lonestar" comes out in 1996, matthew mcconaughey is becoming a marquee name. while on the set of "lonestar," luck strikes matthew again. he receives a call from director joel shoemaker, who is casting for a film adaptation for "a time to kill." >> he was originally going to audition for a different part, but he ended up impressing the director to the degree he read him for the part of jake. >> jake, the lead role is based

on grisham's personal experiences as a young lawyer. >> i am young and i am inexperienced. >> studio executives balk at putting a relative unknown in the lead, until -- >> he was personally approved by john grisham. this was a big deal, because this was not a small movie. this was a big, expensive hollywood movie and the leading role was played by a guy nobody had heard of. and he was just some guy from texas. >> the marketing campaign heats up on the eve of the film's release in the summer of 1996. >> remember this name and remember this face. he's the star of "a time to kill" and his name is matthew mcconaughey. and he will bring lots of people into your theaters. [ applause ] >> 18 years later, he would describe "a time to kill" as the film which made him

instantaneously famous. >> kaboom. in one weekend. coming up, the handsome leading man taking hollywood by storm. and keeps the tabloids talking. ♪

♪ >> with the success of "a time to kill" matthew mcconaughey is suddenly a hot commodity. >> it did establish him as a leading man. >> mcconaughey goes with "contact," a sci-fi themed film

from power house director. >> he was playing a charismatic preacher character in "contact." >> i couldn't imagine living in a world where god didn't exist. >> very awkward fit, i thought. steven spielberg puts him in "amistad." it didn't connect with the academy or the audiences. >> in 1999, he stars in "ed tv." >> i'm going to have to pass. and it's not an age thing, because you are still a handsome man. >> a comedy about a guy who lets a camera crew follow his every move. "ed tv" gets pour reception. >> the movie wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. >> the film may not connect with

moviegoers, but mcconaughey can identify with a character whose personal life is exposed for all to see. >> yes, you're on television. >> the paparazzi capture him with a succession of leading ladies. >> look, we all play games in dating. we've all played games. >> patricia arquette. ashley judd. penelope cruz. and sandra bullock, his co-star from "a time to kill." >> privacy is the toughest part. my private life is mine, and i didn't like sharing it before i was famous when no one gave a damn about what it was. now everyone wants to know. >> protecting that private life is no simple matter. >> it takes a little moxie and work to defend it. you really want to. i could go get a place and put up 40 foot walls and not have any trouble whatsoever. >> what makes him tick is a subject of curiosity.

in 1999, fans learned he dances to the beat of a different drum. ♪ specifically a bongo. >> hollywood actor matthew mcconaughey is free on bail. >> he was arrested early this morning at his home. >> police say he was apparently intoxicated, dancing in the living room naked and playing bongo drums. >> it was a nice day. >> the incident becomes so famous, it even gets a puppet parody treatment. >> through the window, i could see a nude while meat dancing and playing bongo drums. ♪ >> off screen, mcconaughey may live an unorthodox life, but his movie roles are becoming more and more conventional. >> this man is strong. >> he's naked. >> hollywood leans on him for a series of romantic comedies. "the wedding planner" opposite jennifer lopez.

"how to lose a guy in ten days" with kate hudson. and "failure to launch" with sarah jessica parker. >> commercially, they were all money makers. he has nothing but fond memories with making them. >> critics, though, aren't so fond. >> i don't know what they were trying to turn him into. he's nothing like this handsome man. >> you live with your parents? >> is that a problem? >> the roles may not require him to flex his acting muscles, but they do show off his smoking bod. he's not shy about displaying his assets off screen either. >> i like being in touch with my body, mind and spirit. >> you open up a magazine and there he would be without his shirt off. >> in 2005, that pecks appeal makes him "people" magazine's sexiest man alive.

female fans may drool, but by 2007, mcconaughey's given his heart to a single lady. brazilian bombshell camilla alvez. >> camilla is a model, a host and hand bag designer. >> in 2008, matthew and camilla welcome their first child, son levi. >> we're having a great time. i'm a father, i have a woman i love and care about. >> his personal life has come together. but professionally, the picture is mixed. >> you're doing a great job. still here, right? >> "fool's gold" "surfer dude" and "sahara" fail to excite critics. >> i think the media was beginning to tire of him. if his name was attached to a movie, critics were lying in wait to trash it. >> still, there are occasional glimpses of what mcconaughey is

truly capable of. >> what are you celebrating? >> "reign of fire." >> one dragon down, three men dead, oh, yeah. at that rate, we might be getting somewhere in 320 years. >> there's a flash of the old mcconaughey that caught everybody's eye in "dazed and confused." >> i'm a football coach. >> it was a piece of art that was very connected with real life. >> we are marshal. >> he's wonderful in "we are marshal." >> matthew mcconaughey should have been making like four "we are marshals" a year. he would have had like four oscars by now. >> instead as his 30s evaporate, mcconaughey decides to make another romantic comedy, "ghosts of girlfriends past." >> i would believe more than happy to take off the rest of my clothes to prove it. >> he's 40. there's got to be a moment where you look in the mirror and say, what the hell am i doing with my life?

>> coming up, matthew mcconaughey takes stock. >> we've got too much riding on this thing. >> and decides to go in a bold new direction. >> we estimate you have 30 days left. she's kind of special. she makes the whole team better. he's the kind of player that puts the puck, horsehide, bullet. right where it needs to be. coach calls it logistics. he's a great passer. dependable. a winning team has to have one. somebody you can count on. somebody like my dad. this is my dad. somebody like my mom. my grandfather. i'm very pround of him. her. them. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go--

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com. >> i had a good sense that i needed to pull back on what i had been doing. >> he pulls back from the bankable comedic roles he's become nope for and steps out of the spotlight. >> i didn't work for two years. not because i didn't want to, but i said i don't want to do things i've been doing. i enjoy those. i may do them again. but right now i want to do something different. >> that something different, dramatic roles in smaller, independent films. >> somewhere in that two years, i think i gained a little anonymity and i think i became some people's new, fresh good idea. and i got some calls and offers for some roles that did scare me, in a good way, and i went to work. >> work on films like "the lincoln lawyer" where mcconaughey plays a defense attorney with a chris else of conscience. >> i'm trying to make it right! >> it sets him on a path towards darker and grittier roles. next, playing a detective with a side gig in "killer joe."

you want me off the job? say the word. >> he follows in the critically acclaimed "mud." >> what you say, boys? >> when he started doing these interesting, small movies again, they weren't seen by a ton of moviegoers, but they were seen by the right people in hollywood. >> he's then cast in a role that brings an entirely different kind of exposure. >> the law says that you cannot touch, but i see a lot of lawbreakers up in this house. >> mcconaughey works on screen magic in a supporting role as a club owner and stripper stud in 2012's "magic mike." >> it's like he's performing to buy his soul out of hell that's the level of intensity that he brings to it. >> the success of "magic mike" gives him the momentum to take on his most challenging project

to date. >> "dallas buyers club" script has been sitting on his desk for four or five years and this is the movie he really wanted to get maid. >> you've tested positive for hiv. >> it's inspired by the true story of ron woodruff, diagnosed with aids in the mid '80s who works around the system to increase access to medication. >> they've got good meds out of mexico, better than what you can get here in the states. >> the story is a tough sell and turned down by hollywood more than 100 times. >> welcome to the dallas buyers club. >> the movie finally shoots in 2012 for an estimated $25 million in just 25 days. his physical transformation is draw dropping. >> my weight loss was something i needed to do. if i didn't do it right, you would be going, he doesn't look like he's sick. >> there ain't nothing out there

that can kill ron woodruff in 30 days. >> when "dallas buyers club" appears, the drumbeat of oscars starts instantly. >> my impress was, wow, he is on a roll. >> mcconaughey sweeps more than a dozen nominations and awards. now parents of three, his wife camilla by his side every step of the way. >> you won the golden globe, were you genuinely surprised? there's been this ground swell of momentum for you. >> oh, yeah, i was genuinely surprised. i have been surprised with each victory, absolutely. >> but few were surprised when his academy award nomination arrives in january. >> matthew mcconaughey in "dallas buyers club." >> mcconaughey says he's just getting started. >> it's a wonderful moment in my

career that is in the middle of its approach. >> along his approach, a role as a detective troubled by his past and the search for a serial killer in the hbo series "true detective." >> we keep the other bad men from the door. >> he's just killing it week after week. >> matthew mcconaughey is conducting his career as if he expects to be dead at any moment and he wants a legacy. >> "true detective" holds true to the type of roles mcconaughey seems to be gravitating towards. >> these have been singularly focused, obsessed characters. a lot live on the fringes on society. but they make up their own rules and laws. they don't pander to society. there's a freedom that i found in that. >> move the money into your pocket. >> then there's his appearance in that other oscar nominated film, "the wolf of wall street." >> he can steal the movie in one scene.

>> bring us two absolute martinis. after that, bring us two more. then two more after that every five minutes until one of us passes out. >> excellent strategy, sir. >> his two or three scenes at the beginning of that movie set the tone for the madness and insanity that follows. >> whether mcconaughey brings home a trophy sunday night or not, there's no question, he's having a golden moment. >> i know why i'm sitting here and why i've got a nomination. i just put my head down, do the work, enjoying the experience so much that that was reward enough. >> with star power as big as his home state of texas, a family that he adores and timely some oscar recognition, i would say things are turning out more than just, all right, all right, all right for the texas boy turned hollywood superstar.

thanks for watching. good night. >> tonight on "unguarded with rachel nichols," unprecedented. jason collins, the first openly gay athlete in major men's sports. in his first sitdown interview since signing with the nets. >> it's nice to have a positive impact on someone else's life. >> uncatchable. nascar's most popular driver, dale earnhardt jr. fresh off winning his second daytona 500. >> when i won in 2004, i didn't realize what it was worth. so now i get it. >> unforgettable, rachel recalls the amazing stories and characters she covered during the sochi olympics. >> the first thing i saw was this giant cutout of my daughter's face. so it was pretty cool. ♪